


I Miss You (Quality Time)

by TheCourtSorcerer



Series: 5 Languages of Love [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: (mentioned) - Freeform, 5 Love Languages, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Canon Era, Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Engaged merthur, Established Relationship, Fluff, Good morgana, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, No Beta, Quality Time, Unbeta'd, life gets busy when you're king and court sorcerer, merlin just wants to spend time with his fiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28997244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCourtSorcerer/pseuds/TheCourtSorcerer
Summary: Sometimes it felt like Arthur was merely a dream he couldn’t quite reach, they were so busy. This past week had been like that.-OR-Merlin misses just hanging out with Arthur outside of their duties.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: 5 Languages of Love [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125089
Comments: 20
Kudos: 214
Collections: Tavernfest Round 2: The Five Love Languages





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 of my Love Languages series - Quality Time! Coming up next, soon, is Acts of Service! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this! 
> 
> (PS - all parts of this series are standalone fics, meaning this one is not related to HHS"ILY", or any other fic in this series. All five fics are separate and in no way connect, which means they can be read in any order and you don't have to read all five to understand anything that happens in them!) 
> 
> _  
> ~~On that note - I just got an email from the uni I applied to telling me to activate my student acc and I may or may not be screaming because I'm pretty sure that means I've been accepted but I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up since I've not received anything official in the mail yet.~~  
> _
> 
> anyway! I hope you enjoy this!

_This day sucks_ , Merlin thought to himself, sighing softly as he waited in the King’s chambers while he finished up afternoon petitions.

He tugged at the deep green, high neck tunic he wore that Arthur had bought him a sennight ago, as he stared at the bed he just finished making up. After a moments debate, he finally decided to sit down on the freshly cleaned covers.

Merlin laid back on the soft bed, dangling his legs off the edge. He selfishly hoped that petitions wouldn’t take much longer. He felt as if hadn’t seen his fiancé since he gave him the shirt he was wearing. Of course, he _had_ seen him, he just hadn’t _seen_ him. They’d hardly had any time to just spend together. Merlin knew it was because they both had duties, him Court Sorcerer and Arthur the King, but he still craved some alone time with the man he was planning on marrying. Sue him.

A loud sigh cut through the deafening silence of their shared chambers, as Merlin stared up in disinterest. This was taking too long. Yes, yes, he knew the people needed to speak to the King, but dammit Merlin wanted to be _selfish._ He wanted the King to _himself_ for once. Just him. He loved the denizens of Camelot—every one of Arthur’s people, every one of (soon) _his_ people. He did. But… He liked seeing his lover, too, and y’know, spending time with him.

Sometimes it felt like Arthur was merely a dream he couldn’t quite reach, they were so busy. This past week had been like that.

They’d only seen each other in mornings, briefly during meals, and at night it felt like. Sure, they’d run into each other through the day, and see each other at meetings or while fulfilling their duties but that was _different._ That was _work._ That wasn’t sitting down with a nice bowl of fresh fruits, surrounded by the forests on a picnic, laughing and talking and planning their wedding, and just spending time together _outside_ of their ‘jobs.’

Merlin swore, if Arthur didn’t walk into their room in two minutes, he would march into that throne room, storm his way to his stupid throne, and—

The door to his and Arthur’s chambers swung open before slamming shut, a loud groan following the noise. “You won’t _believe_ what kinds of ridiculous arguments some damn old Lords demanded I mediated! I—ah! Merlin?”

Arthur’s eyes widened as he stared at the man that was suddenly hugging him. Merlin pulled away with an accusatory pout. The King blinked a few times before letting his hands rest on his Warlock’s sides.

“…What?” He asked as Merlin glare-pouted at him.

“I have not seen you _once_ today. We didn’t even have breakfast together. I have to find out from _George_ when he woke me up and you were already _gone_.” Merlin glared harder at his fiancé, very obviously not pleased.

Arthur winced slightly and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Merlin’s lips in an effort to appease him. When Merlin hummed quietly into the kiss, he knew it worked.

“I’m sorry, cariad…” He murmured as he pulled away, speaking with that soft voice that always managed to calm down Merlin. “I didn’t mean to leave you to wake alone, I just… You were so exhausted, I knew you needed the extra sleep, and as much as I wanted to stay with you, I had a private audience with Lord Dagol about his lands first thing that I had to get to so I had to leave… So, I asked George to wake you a bit later so you could rest, and he knows how you overwork yourself so of course he had no issue with it. I should have left a note, though.”

Merlin bit his lip, worrying it between his teeth gently. “It’s really hard to stay mad at you when you use that tone, you prat… Ugh. Fine. I know, I know. You have duties, I’m not mad about it, I just…”

“You just what?” Arthur raised an eyebrow. He pulled Merlin closer, who just sighed in response to the action before speaking again, his voice nearly a whisper.

“I _miss_ you.”

Merlin watched as Arthur’s expression softened to that special look that only came out when the two of them were truly alone. “You could have accompanied me to petitions, you know… The wedding and your coronation are soon enough, it wouldn’t hurt for you to start joining early, the people love you anyway.” Merlin knew he meant well with his words, but they only made him frown in displeasure.

“That’s not the _same_ , Arthur. That’s _work_ ,” He expressed emphatically, “it’s not you spending time with me simply because you love me, that’s us fulfilling requirements of our duties without getting to kiss or talk about stupid things like last week’s weather or the upcoming tournaments.”

“Ah, I see… You want a day off, yeah?” Arthur hummed, “want to take a ride out to that one clearing, have a picnic? Spend time together? Just be together? Because we can. I’ll postpone the meeting we’re meant to be at to discuss magic legislation until tomorrow, and we can take off somewhere for some time with just us. As just Arthur and Merlin, soon-to-be husbands, not King and Warlock.”

Merlin smiled at the thought, it being so similar to what he had been earlier imagining. He did love that clearing… And he _needed_ to spend some time with his King. He felt as if he may lose his mind if he didn’t get to be with him outside ‘work’-related things today. “That sounds _lovely_. We’re doing it. You have no choice, we’re doing it.” 

Arthur chuckled softly and pulled himself from Merlin’s embrace.

“Right then, go grab some food from the kitchens and meet me at the stables, I’ll go inform the council the meeting is postponed and tell Leon where we’re off to.” He clapped his hands together with a nod.

“Meet at the stables, got it. Maybe I’ll sneak us some of those sweet honey cakes the cook made for Morgana last night,” Merlin stage-whispered in a conspiratorial tone, earning an amused roll of the eyes from Arthur.

“Don’t get in trouble, _Mer_ lin, we have a picnic to get to,” he warned teasingly before pressing a kiss to Merlin’s cheek and heading out. Merlin watched him go with a grin, excited to finally spend some quality time with the man he loved.

Maybe this day wasn’t be so bad, after all.


	2. An Excerpt From The Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little piece from the morning when Merlin woke to Arthur already gone. Inspired by a comment on the first part.

"Where's Arthur?" Merlin asked as he slowly pulled himself out of bed, his eyes falling on an unnecessarily cheery George.

George put away the shirt he was folding and looked over to Merlin. "The King is at a meeting, but I've brought you your breakfast from the kitchens. They had red apples this morning, I know you like those."

Normally, Merlin would have appreciated the thought, but normally he woke with a warm King in his arms.

"So, he just... Left, without waking me? Did he eat? Will he be coming to eat?" Merlin walked over to the table where George had left his food, narrowing his eyes at it. "There is only enough for one here."

He heard a small sigh and the sound of fabric rustling from where Merlin assumed George was making the bed. "He will not be back to dine with you. The King has a very busy schedule today, and asked me to inform you he will not be available until after today's petitions."

Merlin went quiet. He couldn't tell Merlin himself? He got _George_ to tell him, really? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No, he couldn't get mad at George... George was just doing his job. Merlin understood that, he was Arthur's manservant for years before becoming Court Sorcerer and getting engaged to him. Even now he still took on some of the duties when he could. Really, though, Arthur couldn't tell him himself...? He had such a long night the night before, and he wanted nothing more than to just lie with his betrothed while they took breakfast in bed, just talking and enjoying each other's company. It was the perfect way to start the day good... But no. Arthur was _busy._

"George, you can have the day off. Go visit your family or something," Merlin suddenly told the servant. The sounds of cleaning behind him stopped, and Merlin could practically picture the shocked look on his face already.

"But the King—" Merlin cut him off with a sigh,

" _Is my betrothed_. I can deal with him. Go, please, George. The gods know he didn't give _me_ enough days off, I doubt you ever get any." _Not that you'd ever ask,_ Merlin added silently, "Let me deal with him today."

It was silent for a moment, as George hesitated, before the servant sighed. Merlin heard his footsteps heading towards the door, then heard it open. The warlock bit his lip gently as the door quietly shut, before heading to the wardrobe and getting dressed. He threw on the soft green tunic Arthur bought him last week, and a pair of light brown breeches before walking back to their bed and dropping gracelessly down onto it.

_This day sucks._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you're following along this series as I update, keep an eye out! "Acts of Service" is up next and coming soon! 
> 
> In case no one has told you today - you're an incredible life-form and I wish you the best in life!


End file.
